Bajoran Resistance
The Bajoran Resistance was a global resistance movement on Bajor during the Cardassian occupation. The Resistance constantly raided and sabotaged Cardassian targets, and was eventually successful in regaining the independence of Bajor. Kira Nerys was one member of the Bajoran Resistance. Formation of the Resistance When the Cardassians officially occupied Bajor in 2328, there was no resistance from the Bajoran people. To the contrary, the peaceful Bajorans simply surrendered without a fight, unaware that their oppressors would soon turn them into forced laborers and commit mass genocide. After decades of oppression from the Cardassian military, the once peaceful Bajorans began to form the resistance, with the hope that they would one day achieve independence. Resistance Tactics Realizing that a direct confrontation with the Cardassian forces would ultimately result in failure, the resistance used guerrilla tactics to cause both disarray and fear to spread throughout the Cardassian occupying troops. The resistance had managed to create a few light raider vessels to use against Cardassian warships. While these ships were severely weaker than those at the Cardassian's disposal, their purpose was predominantly to annoy the Cardassians. The resistance often attacked Cardassian targets even if they contained innocent Cardassian civilians. The Bajorans believed that Cardassians living on Bajor as civilians were as guilty as those in the military. The Bajoran Resistance was divided into cells which were generally made up of approximately ten to twenty resistance fighters. These cells had their own area of operations and complete autonomy in what and when to attack a target. Because of this decentralized structure it was very difficult for Cardassian forces to find the resistance and destroy it. Another advantage of this cell structure was that if resistance fighters were captured they could not compromise the security of the entire resistance, because they simply did not know who the members were. Each cell was named after their leader, the most infamous cell was the Shakaar resistance cell. The Kohn-Ma were another cell, as were the Ornathia resistance cell. The moral issue of attacking Cardassian installations in which Bajorans were working was solved by seeing these Bajorans as collaborators, as they were not aiding the Resistance. Cardassian Response As the attacks from the resistance increased in size and frequency, the assigned prefect of Bajor was forced to crack down on the Bajorans in hopes of ultimately quelling the resistance. Each time an act of terrorism was committed against the Cardassians, they would respond by summarily rounding up suspected resistance members and executing them without a trial. This only infuriated the Bajoran people more, causing the Resistance to grow in size. In 2359, the newly appointed prefect Gul Dukat attempted a softer approach, believing it was the only way to make the Resistance stop its attacks. His first act as prefect was to cut labor camp output quotas by 50%, abolish child labor, and improve medical care and food rations. These measures led to a 20% drop in the camp death rates. On his one month anniversary as prefect of Bajor, the Bajoran Resistance destroyed an orbital drydock, resulting in the deaths of 200 Cardassians. In response, Dukat rounded up 200 suspected members of the resistance and had them executed, believing this to be a "fair" response. During Dukat's reign as prefect, the Resistance made five assassination attempts against him, all of which failed. Occupations End Despite all of Central Command's attempts to rectify things, the situation on Bajor grew out of hand. After decades of the Resistance guerrilla and terrorist attacks, as well as political pressure from the United Federation of Planets, the Cardassian Central Command was ordered to withdraw from Bajor by the civilian government on Cardassia Prime. After the Occupation of Bajor ended, resistance members had to adapt to normal life. Some of them went to be farmers and others were offered positions in the Bajoran Provisional Government or Bajoran Militia. Category:Bajoran Category:Groups